(Director of Governance) To
confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Cabinet Committee
held on 12 December 2016.

Decision:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12
December 2016 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a
correct record.

Minutes:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12
December 2016 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a
correct record.

20.

Any Other Business

Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local
Government Act 1972, together with paragraphs 6 and 25 of the
Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require that
the permission of the Chairman be obtained, after prior notice to
the Chief Executive, before urgent business not specified in the
agenda (including a supplementary agenda of which the statutory
period of notice has been given) may be transacted.

In accordance with Operational
Standing Order 6 (non-executive bodies), any item raised by a
non-member shall require the support of a member of the Committee
concerned and the Chairman of that Committee. Two weeks’
notice of non-urgent items is required.

Minutes:

The Cabinet Committee noted
that there was no other urgent business for
consideration.

(1)
That, following the decision made by East Thames to terminate its
contract after 4-years as the Council’s Development Agent,
the Cabinet Committee noted the approach now being taken to deliver
the future phases of the house-building programme; and

(2)
That the contract with Pellings LLP, who were currently in contract
with East Thames and (for which the Council has a Collateral
Warranty in place) be novated to Epping Forest District Council and
the existing building contracts with the Contractors for Phases 1,
2 and 3 be amended to remove reference to East Thames.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director (Housing
Property & Development) presented a report to the Cabinet
Committee. He advised in September 2017, East Thames, who were the
Council’s Development Agents, gave notice of their intention
to invoke Schedule 8 (Exit Management Plan) of the Housing
Development Agency Services Agreement that they no longer wished to
act as Development Agents on behalf of the Council. Whilst a
3-month exit management term was set out in the Agreement, East
Thames agreed to extend this term to 6-months, ending on 9 March
2018, to enable as smooth a hand-over as possible.

The Council have appointed a
Senior Project Management Officer, based on a temporary 3-year
fixed term contract to work on some of the Project Management
functions previously undertaken by East Thames. This was being
funded from savings that had been identified through the withdrawal
of East Thames.

The Council now had an
opportunity to review its approach, based on its experiences over
the last 4-years, and to put in place arrangements that could
deliver a more efficient service and if possible de-risk some of
the aspects of the programme that have so far resulted in
additional costs across schemes that were on site. However, due to
the relatively short Exit Management Plan, it was necessary to act
quickly taking account of the fact any future appointments would
require an EU procurement exercise, which was a lengthy
process.

Listed below are some of the
problems the Council has faced on previous phases, which have led
to delays or additional costs to the Council:

Ground Contamination

Issue – Across each site,
soil surveys had been undertaken to give an idea of contamination
for contractors to base their risk and price accordingly in their
tenders. The level of detail had resulted in that risk being
understated and Contractors claiming additional costs and time
where the contamination was later found to be more extensive. This
was particularly the case for Phases 1 & 2.

Way Forward – To
undertake a more extensive set of soil surveys and to consult with
the Council’s Planning Officers at the earliest opportunity
to agree a method statement and soil contamination remediation plan
that would satisfy the Planning Conditions allowing these
conditions to be discharged prior to the Contractor submitting
their costs.

Drainage

Issue – Drainage design
was the responsibility of the Contractor under a Design and Build
contract. However, connection to local sewers was not always
practical due to invert depths, thus resulting in local pumping
stations or sewerage treatment stations on sites. This was not only
more expensive but could lead to more expensive on-going
maintenance liabilities.

Way Forward – To appoint
an EU compliant Framework Agreement of Consultant Civil Engineers
to undertake a detailed sewer investigation and to fully design the
sewerage strategy for each site in advance of appointing the
Contractor. This would be done in conjunction with any soil
contamination remediation plan.

That the contents of this Progress Report on
Phases 1 - 6 of the Council House-building Programme be noted, and
presented to the Cabinet in line with the Terms of Reference.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director (Housing
Property & Development) presented a report to the Cabinet
Committee. He advised that the report was for noting only and set
out the progress that had been made across phases 1-3 and future
phases 4-6 of the Housebuilding programme.

Phase
1

Further to the determination of
the contract with Broadway Construction Limited, a contract was
awarded to P A Finlay and Company Limited to complete the works on
Phase 1 as approved by the Cabinet Committee on the 22 September
2016.

The Phase 1 recovery work was completed on the
31 October 2017 with the last two homes on the Red Cross site in
Waltham Abbey being handed over and occupied. The homes built are
now in the defects liability period (a 2 year period where the
Contractor retained responsibility for any contractual defects
reported). The defects liability period for Phase 1 will end on the
31 October 2019.

The original contract with Broadway
Construction Limited was let on the 27 October 2014 with completion
expected on the 13 November 2015. With the delays that built up
under the contract with Broadway Construction, together with the
Council determining the contract and the subsequent procurement of
a new contract with P A Finlay and Company Limited meant an overall
delay of 102 weeks on the original anticipated handovers.

The determination of the contract with
Broadway Construction Limited also led to a significant increase in
costs with the works costs rising from £2,331,170.02 to
£5,852,557.98. Overall, the recovery project was 66% more
expensive than the original contract. The increased costs were
mainly due to remediation works, additional drainage works and
utility works. This can be seen as the premium paid for appointing
a contractor to take on another contractor’s unfinished work
and all the risks associated with the project.

Notice of
Adjudication from Broadway Construction Limited

On 22 November 2017 the Council
received a notice of Adjudication, which was referred by Broadway
Construction Ltd (BCL). The dispute concerns the termination of the
contract by the Council on 1st June 2016. BCL maintains and claims
that the termination was wrongful and constituted a repudiatory
breach of contract.

In April 2016, the Council
served a default notice on BCL claiming that BCL was not preceding
with the contract works regularly and diligently. Later on 1 June
terminated the Contract on the ground that BCL had continued with
the default specified in its notice served in April 2016. BCL
assert that this was contrary to the true facts and progress of the
works on the Project, and that they do not accept the validity of
the default notice or the termination of the Contract.

BCL have therefore given notice
to refer the dispute to adjudication in accordance with the
Contract.

BCL are seeking the following relief and decision
from the Adjudicator:

The Assistant Director (Housing
Property & Development) presented a report to the Cabinet
Committee. He advised that one of the Cabinet Committee’s
Terms of Reference was to monitor expenditure on the Housing
Capital Programme Budget for the Council Housebuilding Programme,
ensuring the use (within the required deadlines) of the capital
receipts made available through the Council’s Agreement with
the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) allowing
the use of additional “Replacement Right to Buy (RTB)
Receipts” received as a result of the Government’s
increase in the maximum RTB Discount to be spent on
housebuilding.

The Cabinet Committee regularly
received detailed financial reports covering all financial issues
relating to the Housebuilding Programme. The Financial Reports
attached to agenda item 9 at Appendix 2, 3 and 4 set out the
current financial position with the various aspects of the
Housebuilding Programme.

The Cabinet Committee noted
that due to programme spending, the Council are forecasting that no
1-4-1 receipts need be given back this year. It was also worth
noting that if future spend was consistent with the forecast budget
the Council should be able to utilise all 1-4-1 receipts over the
lifecycle of the project.

Resolved:

(1)
That the current financial position be noted, in respect of:

(a)
The amount of additional “Replacement Right to Buy (RTB)
Receipts” for utilisation under the Government’s
“one-for-one replacement” scheme that had been
received; when it was required to be spent; the actual expenditure
to date; and the future planned expenditure profile (Appendix 2 of
the agenda);

(b)
The amount and use of financial contributions available to the
Council’s Housebuilding Programme from Section 106
Agreements, in lieu of the provision of on-site affordable housing
on private development sites, and other sources of funding (e.g.
sales of HRA land and non-RTB property, and external funding)
(Appendix 3 of the agenda) and;

(c)
The expenditure profile that reflects the house-building programme
(Appendix 4 of the agenda).

Reasons for Decision:

The Council’s
Housebuilding Programme was a high profile, high cost
activity. It was therefore essential to
ensure that budgets, costs and expenditure were properly monitored,
to enable corrective action to be taken at the earliest opportunity
when necessary.

Other Options
Considered and Rejected:

Not to have regular Financial
Reports presented to the Cabinet Committee.

(Director of Communities) To consider the
attached report, CHB-004-2017/18.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director
(Housing Property & Development) presented a report to the
Cabinet Committee. He advised In July 2012 the Cabinet approved a
list of potential development sites, made up of a primary and
reserve list, which would make up the Council Housebuilding
Programme. At that time, it was agreed that anyfurther development assessments would be undertaken over time by
officers of:

(a) All other
garage sites comprising 6 or less garages;

(b) Any further
garage sites that started to have vacancies with no waiting list;
and

(c) Any
Council-owned land on housing sites considered to be surplus to
requirement.

At that time it was also agreed
that further reports would be submitted to the Cabinet in order to
consider whether or not these sites should be added to either the
Primary List or Reserve List.

In practice, this process could
be amended to free up valuable time for the Cabinet by delegating
authority to the Director of Communities to undertake feasibility
studies and viability studies on any new site that may be
identified and to present them direct to the Cabinet Committee.
These would be presented in the same way as other sites have been
in the past, whereby local Ward Members were invited to participate
in the discussion.

Should the Cabinet Committee
then agree to proceed with the development site based on the
feasibility study as presented, then it would be necessary to seek
an amendment to the Cabinet Committee Terms of Reference, where it
was currently only able to consider and sign-off development
appraisals and financial appraisals for sites previously identified
by the Cabinet as having development potential and that could be
included within the Council’s Housebuilding
Programme.

It was therefore recommended
that a recommendation be made to the Cabinet, through the minutes
of this meeting, that:

·the Cabinet delegates authority to the Director of
Communities to identify new Council House-building development
sites and to undertake feasibility studies and viability studies;
and

·the Cabinet Committee Terms of Reference be amended
to allow the Cabinet Committee to agree any new development sites
that may be added to the House-building programme.

The Cabinet Committee expressed
concerns that underused garage sites were a magnet for antisocial
behaviour, although some of the sites were relatively small it was
still worth considering these sites to provide affordable homes for
local people.

The Cabinet Committee asked
officers to also look for larger sites in the district as they felt
that building works would happen quicker on a larger
site.

Recommendation to Cabinet:

(1)That a recommendation be made to the Cabinet to
delegate authority to the Director of Communities to identify new
Council House-building development sites and to undertake
feasibility studies and viability studies, in consultation with the
Portfolio Holder, which would then be presented to the Cabinet
Committee for consideration; and

(2) That a
recommendation be made to the Cabinet to amend the Cabinet
Committee Terms of Reference to allow the Cabinet Committee to
agree any new development sites that may be ...
view the full minutes text for item 24.

(Director of Communities) To consider the
attached report, CHB-005-2017/18.

Decision:

(1)
That, following a request by North Weald Parish Council, the new
development to the rear of 9 - 19 Queens Road, North Weald,
previously named Elizabeth Court, be renamed Cyril Hawkins Close;
and

(2)
That formal application be submitted to the Director of
Neighbourhoods for the above name and numbering change, in
accordance with the Council’s Street Naming and Numbering
Policy.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director (Housing
Property & Development) presented a report to the Cabinet
Committee. He advised that he had received a request from North
Weald Parish Council to change the name of the new development to
the rear of 9-19 Queens Road, North Weald from Elizabeth Court to
Cyril Hawkins Close. He explained that Cyril Hawkins had passed
away and he was a long standing Chairman and Parish Councillor of
North Weald Parish Council.

The Cabinet Committee noted
that the late Cyril Hawkins was a great servant to the Parish of
North Weald and recognised that he had been actively involved with
helping Council Officers to negotiate with UK Power over the power
cable diversions that were necessary to bring this site
forward.

Decision:

(1)
That, following a request by North Weald Parish Council, the new
development to the rear of 9 -19 Queens Road, North Weald,
previously named Elizabeth Court, be renamed Cyril Hawkins Close;
and

(2)
That formal application be submitted to the Director of
Neighbourhoods for the above name and numbering change, in
accordance with the Council’s Street Naming and Numbering
Policy.

Reasons for Decision:

Street naming (or re-naming) of
sites to be constructed under the Council House-building Programme
was set out in the Terms of Reference as a responsibility for the
Council Housebuilding Cabinet Committee.

The Queens Road, North Weald
development site has already been agreed by the Cabinet Committee
in December 2016 to be named Elizabeth Close. However, the Council
had received a request from the North Weald Parish Council to
rename the street after the former long-standing Chairman,
Councillor Cyril Hawkins, who sadly passed away last
year.

Other
Options Considered and Rejected:

To retain Elizabeth Close as
the street name for the development, which had already been agreed
by the Cabinet Committee.

26.

Exclusion of Public and Press

Exclusion: To consider
whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972,
the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the
items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve
the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the
following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as
amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

Agenda Item No

Subject

Exempt Information Paragraph Number

12

Request
to purchase a

potential Council housing

development site – Whitehills
Road, Loughton

1 and 3

The Local Government (Access to
Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1
March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining
the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest
in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this
test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this
agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to
the meeting.

Background Papers: Article 17 - Access to Information, Procedure
Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being
documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the
Proper Officer's opinion:

(a) disclose any
facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the
report is based; and

(b) have been
relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not
include published works or those which disclose exempt or
confidential information and in respect of executive reports, the
advice of any political advisor.

The Council will make available for
public inspection for four years after the date of the meeting one
copy of each of the documents on the list of background papers.

Minutes:

Resolved:

That the public and press be
excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below
on the grounds that they would involve the likely disclosure of
exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of
Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

Agenda
Exempt Information

Item
No.
Subject
Paragraph Number

12
Request to purchase a
1 & 3

Potential Council housing

Development site –

Whitehills Road, Loughton

27.

REQUEST TO PURCHASE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT SITE AT WHITEHILLS ROAD, LOUGHTON

(Director of Communities) To consider the
attached report, CHB-006-2017/18.

Decision:

That the unsolicited offer
received to purchase the Council’s garage site in
Whitehills Road, Loughton (currently
included within the Council’s Housebuilding Programme with
planning permission for two 2-bedroom bungalows) be refused and
that the Council continues to develop the site for affordable
rented housing as part of the Council’s Housebuilding
Programme.

Minutes:

The Director of Communities
presented a report to the Cabinet Committee. He advised that the
Council had received an unsolicited offer to purchase a garage site
in Whitehills Road, Loughton. The
garage site was included in the Council’s Housebuilding
Programme, Phases 4-6 and planning permission had been sought and
received for two 2-bedroom bungalows. Members were asked to
consider the offer received.

Decision:

That the unsolicited offer
received to purchase the Council’s garage site in
Whitehills Road, Loughton (currently
included within the Council’s Housebuilding Programme with
planning permission for two 2-bedroom bungalows) be refused and
that the Council continues to develop the site for affordable
rented housing as part of the Council’s Housebuilding
Programme.

Reasons for Decision:

An unsolicited offer had been
received to purchase the development site, which the Cabinet
Committee needed to consider.

Other
Options Considered and Rejected:

(1)To seek competitive tenders for the site on the open
market.

(2)To accept the offer received.

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